Posts tagged tumblrize

From our fine readers…

I have received several questions and recommendations from our fine readers so I thought I might start an infrequent post series “From our fine readers”. Shall we begin?

Illustration by Erik Marinovich

Mark recommended a recent story from The Smithsonian Magazine on the history of the @ symbol. Great article about one of my favorite little glyphs.

Nathalie asked if we knew of a weekly planner that started on Sunday instead of Monday. This was a challenge and in the end, I found very few options. My first thought is a blank weekly planner that would allow you to fill in your days and dates as you pleased like the Droplet DIY Planner available as a PDF download from Etsy. The Seeso Better Day Planner is also undated. Thanks to help from Tammy at Notemaker, I found that Filofax sells refill pages that start on Sunday ($10.50 and available for 2012 and 2013). The only size available is the “personal” size which fits into a planner binder that is about 5” x  7 .5”. I found a binder on sale for $16.50 in red or orange called the Domino. Or, if money is no issue, Filofax also has an alligator skin cover that retails for $2300.

Rebekha asked if I’d ever tried the Arwey brand of notebooks and journals. I have not yet treid them but Notebook Stories did a review of some of the Arwey products back in 2010. Paper Love Story also reviewed a couple versions of the Arwey. I hope this helps and maybe Arwey will send me a couple books to test and giveaway (hint, hint).

Original Article

It’s 2013… almost — an exhaustive round-up of planners and calendars

Most calendar and planner manufacturers have already released their 2013 offerings so I thought I might whet your appetite for a new wall calendar, desk calendar or planner.

First from Taschen are a range of designs featuring art, architecture, illustration and more in many different sizes and configurations.

(From left to right: Pin-Ups by Elvgren Weekly tear-off calendar, 8.1 x 13.0 in., 108 pages, $ 19.99; London Diary with spiral binding and elastic ribbon, 6.9 x 8.7 in., 122 pages, $ 15.99; Illustration Now Diary with spiral binding, 6.9 x 8.7 in., 124 pages, $ 15.99; Hiroshige. Famous Views of Edo Wall calendar with spiral binding, 13.5 x 19.3 in., 28 pages, $ 24.99; Paris Wall calendar, 11.8 x 11.8 in., 24 pages, $ 13.99; Fashion Ads of the 20th Century 365 Day-by-Day Hardcover, 6.7 x 8.5 in., 736 pages, $ 29.99)

From Jenni Bick come the Paperblanks line of bound planners and diaries. Diaries are available in sizes from micro 2.5”x3.5”, 3.5” x 5”, 3.5” x 7” slimline, 4” x 5.5”, 5” x 7”, 7” x 9”, 8.25” x 11.75” — pretty much something for everyone in designs that are ornate and rich looking with prices that range from $8.95 for a micro to $29.95 for the Grande Week -on-two-pages.

(From left to right, top to bottom:  Grolier Week at a Time Planner, Grande Features, 8.25” x 11.75”, 160 pages, $29.95 Burgundy Foiled Week at a Time Planner, Midi Horizontal Features 5”x 7”, 160 pages, $16.95; Black Moroccan Week at a Time Planner, Midi Horizontal Features 5”x 7”, 160 pages, $16.95; Karakusa Week at a Time Planner- Slim Features, 3.5” x 7”, 160 pages $14.95)

Jenni Bick is also stocking my favorite Cavallini daily planner, as well as an assortment of the Cavallini vintage-inspired wall calendars.

We Are What We Do have also released their 2013 Action Diaries, available in 6 colors in the A6 size (that’s about 4” x 6” for the Americans) for £6.

There are also options available in an academic calendar year (starting with September and either including 12 or 18 months). Paper Source has a variety of simple academic wall, desk and pocket options.

(From left to right and top to bottom: Academic Booklet Calendar 6” x 7 1/2” $12.95, Academic Date Book 5.5” x 8” $33.95, Metallic Gray My Agenda Academic Planner, 9” x 7” $47.95, Academic Great Big Wall Calendar, 24 3/4” x 19 1/4”, $29.95)

And last but certainly not least (or the only other options because I could have gone on for days with this post), is the classic and ever-present Moleskine. Moleskine also offers academic planners in a variety of configurations and sizes so you can get organized ASAP or you can choose your favorite 2013 planner now before they sell out. European Paper is currently having a sale on the Moleskine Academic planners, just so you know.

Previous reviews of:

• We Are What We Do Action Diary
• Cavallini Daily Planner mentioned here, here, and here.

Original Article

Kaweco Allrounder vs. Student: The Purchasing Debate

Let me start off by saying I have not yet handled either of these pens but based on the descriptions listed, let me go through the differences (and similarities) between the Kaweco Allrounder ($106) and the Kaweco Student ($56). Also, let me clarify that I started this research for my own benefit as I was trying to decide which full-sized Kaweco I wanted to purchase and decided I might go ahead and share with you, my fine readers. Shall we proceed?

The Kaweco Allrounder has an anodized aluminum body while the Kaweco Student has a plastic body. Both have stainless steel, iridium-tipped nibs. The Allrounder is slightly longer at 5.3” to the Student’s 5.125”. Both have twist threaded caps like the Sport Classic and AL Sport models and because of the larger pen size, both can be used with a converter or you can store a spare cartridge inside the pen body.

At present, JetPens stocks the Student in black, white and demonstrator blue in fine or extra fine nibs. The Allrounder is available in red, blue, black and silver with a wider range of nib sizes.

So, for me, only question is whether the $50 price difference for an aluminum body fountain pen is worth it. I have an aluminum body Lamy that I’m lukewarm about. If you require a medium or broad nib, then the Allrounder may be your best option but, at the $100+ price point, there may be other fountain pens in the running. In my opinion, once you go over the $100 price point for a stainless steel nib pen, there are lots of other options and I am a diehard loyalist of the Kawecos when you talk about the under-$30 fountain pen.

(via JetPens)

Original Article

DIY planner kit

If you have had trouble settling on the perfect planner, why not try droplet’s DIY planner kit.  For $10, you can download the PDF files for letter-size and half-sized templates and either 3-hole punch or bind the pages into a book. The PDF comes with monthly calendar pages, weekly pages, notes pages and a contacts page so that you can build just the sort of planner you need.

I owned the files at one point but in the security debacle of 2010, I lost the files along with everything else I had stored digitally. And just when I was getting itchy to make my own planner!

(via droplet on Etsy)

Original Article

Poketo Undated Clover Planner

Have you ever gotten the urge to get organized in March or July? Most paper planners have start dates of January, though you can get lucky and find one that starts in September for back-to-school or even rarer one that starts in June. But if that itch to get-it-together starts, say, today, what are you to do? That’s where the Clover Planner comes in to save the day. The pages are noted for the days of the week but the month and date are left blank to fill in as needed.

There are also an assortment of other pages to help you stay on top of things like weekly planning pages, cashflow, notes and sketch sections, pockets for photos and cards, and index stickers.

The Clover Planner is available in green or red for $26.

(via Poketo!)

Original Article

Cavallini Daily Planner

Its never too soon to think about 2012 and your next planner acquisition. Jenni Bick Bookbinding just announced the new Cavallini 2012 Daily Planner is in stock. These substantial leather-covered planners are available in over half a dozen colors with elegantly printed interior pages. There is one page per day with soft grey lines on cream stock.

I’ve been using the 2011 edition and I can recommend it as a good solution for keeping notes, projects and meetings organized. The size is manageable, the paper is durable and not too thin with little bleed-through and the fonts used for the date and calendar is a simple, clean sans serif.

(via Jenni Bick)

Original Article

Tombow OnBook Mechanical Pencil

Tombow OnBook mechanical pencil is the perfect companion to a paper planner or Moleskine-type notebook. The pen is flat on one side to fit snugly against the spine of your book. The metal clip is solid and is very thin making it easy to slide along the spine of your notebook. It accepts any 0.5mm lead and is available in a half a dozen colors from JetPens. Under the cap is a tiny eraser which is not great but just enough if you’re in a pinch.

The OnBook is actually quite comfortable to hold for my small hands though I’ve never used it for long writing sessions. It looks sleek and it lives along the spine of my Cavallini & Co. leather-covered daily planner.

Original Article

Cavallini Daily Planner 2011

As the clock ticks towards 2011, I tend to think more about my New Year’s goals, new calendars and starting fresh. Nothing gets me excited about the start of a new year like a new planner. This is a gorgeous leather-bound day-by-day planner by Cavallini available in vivid colors. Also available are the classic red, brown and black leather planners. All of them contain cream paper lined and dated. $35

(via Kate’s Paperie)

Original Article